When you find yourself in a lonely spot; sometimes you want some comfort. This photo is a reminder to endure, even in lonely times. Seems everyone feels lonely sometimes, and you can purchase this print from my website here: Lonely Spot.

Lonely Spot

Because life is changing pretty fast these days, it’s important to keep a positive outlook on life. Times are tough, it’s going to require having some self reliance and fortitude.

Just remember to keep calm and carry on. Purchase this print from my website today for shipping to your front door. Because, maybe with something pretty to look at, you won’t feel so lonely.

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Some Advice: This was originally a PDF, now its a blog post! Written November 14, 2018.

There is a fine art in living. Living well is a mystery to most. Few have what it takes to find the secrets of life and still live a happy life. You will find that in use, the quality of life improves. It’s not enough to keep life hidden in a chest that you never take it out and only try it on during special events.

If you live that way, you will find the quality of your life deteriorate to the point that it’s not worthy of living. Like anything with life, you get better the more you use it. This is especially true of creative living.

Creative Living

If you are creative and living in a vacuum, then you will find that the creativity feels worthless and useless unless you have someone else to share the experience with. It’s not just about being told that your doing great work which at best isn’t very satisfying. It’s the shared experience that others have around your work that makes it worthy of your time.

So how do you balance your creative life with a healthy lifestyle? There is a right balance between time spent alone in doing and creating work and the time that is required to be a living breathing person that isn’t living like a zombie.

When it’s not enough that you just exist, life in a vacuum is a living hell. Only when you start living life based upon principals can you find real happiness. Life in a vacuum is worthless. You have to be able to make an impact and make a lasting impression.

Today’s World

Unfortunately today’s world isn’t made for people like me. They want mindless sheep that don’t think. To exist in today’s world you have to be able to live and learn. Learn early from my mistake. Don’t wait until you are forty to figure out what I’m talking about. If you are going to be successful, you will have to have people’s support from the start. Make your groups early. Find those that you can be of use for, and do what you can to help them; just make sure that the road is a two way street.

If you build a two way street then the traffic will flow down both sides in an orderly fashion. Then get enough people to actually use your street and then you have a working model. From there you can build almost anything that needs done and have some level of success. It’s best when there is good in all that you plan to build. It’s not about getting rich anymore, it’s about the value you have as a citizen in society. What value you can add to society as a whole, that makes everyone’s lives better. Do that!

What More Can You Want?

Creativity and intelligence alone are not enough to sustain a living life. There has to be interaction, companions, and people that are your equals in life to sustain reasonable success. If you measure your success on the benefits that society as a whole can benefit from then you are measuring the right stuff.

Intelligence alone isn’t enough. You can not sit in a vacuum and be happy long term. In some short term solutions some isolation can be good, it gives you time to think, to learn, to grow, to figure it out. However once you reach that point and you are no longer struggling to understand the meaning of life, you have to grow your social circles.

If you reach that point and can not function as a being, then you have a problem. It’s important to care for your mental health while being as productive as F**k, this requires careful balance in life and not being addicted to things that prevent you from making good use of your time. You will find it surprising how much you can accomplish with the right frame of mind.

To achieve this frame of mind, requires that you put the work in. At the very minimum, you should have written a million words to reach your first goal. In addition spending an hour doing nothing but meditation each day is only a starting point. Maybe you should spend two hours a day in meditation?

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The Future: Story

Planes no longer stop for passengers, if you want to make a stop in the next city, the only option is to jump. I have everything i need. My phone.

Jumping from twenty thousand feet is a joy. When I land, they scan my phone, a transport van takes me to my hotel. Upon check-in they scan my phone and take me up to my room.

I scan my phone at the door and it unlocks, seems they were expecting me. I enter the room and see its nice, very nice. There are fresh clothes just my size waiting for me. I take a hot shower and put them on.

The computer in the room unlocks using my phone. I connect to my files using the modem in the phone. It’s running at 100 Mega bits per second, fast enough I can upload the video of my jump today to my friends. After two minutes the five minute video uploads and I log out of the computer.

The Club

I put my shoes on, pocket my phone, and walk out the door. I hear Shelly is in town today, she made her jump yesterday. We meet in the club down the street and have a few drinks.

Afterwords we go back to the room and look at the news. Seems someone has hacked Facebook again and uploaded all the usernames and passwords to the public terminals. Since I don’t have a facebook account I don’t bother to check if my username and password have been stolen. Shelly on the other hand takes her phone out of her pocket and logs into the computer. She has access to all of her information and goes strait to facebook.

“Damn it!”, shelly says punching the desk with her left hand. “Oh they get you this time?” I say as she makes frantic clicking sounds trying to change her password.

Fly

“This is like the last time they compromise my account, I’m shutting the account down.” Shelly says as she clicks the final button on the computer to erase her data.

“Well about time you get off that merry go round.” I say as I turn the news off. Shelly doesn’t laugh, and logs off the computer. She pockets her phone and comes to lay down next to me. “At least I don’t have a virus.” She says confidently.

“Yeah that would be bad, if your phone gets hacked you are in deep shit.” Most people that get their phone hacked spend the next year trying to get a new key for their phone, not to mention the effort it takes to update all their accounts.

“I’m going to Paris tomorrow, you want to come?” She says to me, making little flicks of her long hair and looking me in the eye. “Well that might be fun, do you think we could get on the same flight?”

“I have two tickets, Vicki was supposed to go with me, but she stayed in LA this week.”

We spend the next hour talking about the movement of birds in New York, and how the best food in Paris is imported from Canada.

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Life is. Things are. Sometimes you have to deal with it. That in itself isn’t very profound. However the idea that this thinking led me to is extreemly profound.

Why is there so much hate in the world? Do you know or understand it? If you do, then my thinking will make perfect logical sense to you.

For the rest of you that don’t understand it, I’m going to break the news to you. Here goes. There is hate in this world because people are unhappy, a result of their unhappiness is that it comes with a certian amount of baggage.

The baggage is hate. Because people are so unhappy with the current problems, there is more hate in the world because of it.

That is the simple explaination. There is a lot more to it than that, but that is the idea in a nutshell. You may be wondering how I arrived at this profound conclusion on my own?

The answer is I had to wallow in my own misery for twenty years of feeling devistated and laid low. When I started letting go of my rage, and starting looking at things for what they are, then it all became very clear.

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Boredom: A brief on it’s dangers

There is a problem with today’s modern society. While there are many problems with today’s society, specifically one that is dangerous is boredom.

Boredom is defined as an emotional and sometimes psychological state. Many of the problems in life, may stem from boredom. It has been linked to alcoholism, and drug abuse.

When people feel like life has become a living death, when boredom with the norm is so tedious that life just doesn’t make sense like it is.

Sometimes a persons environment is considered to be dull. When it seems like there isn’t any fun, or reason to exert one’s will.

Sometimes boredom is necessary. It can be used to be more creative and to inspire new work. From boredom comes new flavors and breaths new life into creative work.

New Flavors

So sometimes it’s necessary to achieve new heights. Without it, we wouldn’t know when we are tired of what is popular. The whole reason for something being popular is because it’s not boring like our current situation.

Because it has a level of excitement to it. Then when what is current becomes stale, new work replaces the old stuff. And sometimes that is enough to maintain a fresh perspective.

Really getting a fresh perspective is sometimes really important. It helps us to appreciate what we have. The danger lies when things become dull, your wits get dull, your mind gets soft and lazy. Then you spiral down in boredom, looking for a quick fix.

The only way out is to be really creative. You have to push the boundaries. Life can get the better of you if you don’t watch it. Sometimes you have to do what makes you feel alive. Life can be pretty boring. Change is of course inevitable.

Pixelated Decaf

Pretty soon everything looks like the same pixelated bits, on tv, on the big screen, heck even Netflix.

There is something to be said for having a peaceful life. It can however turn into oppressive situation if not kept in check. Sometimes you just want to dance, or play.

When boredom turns oppressive, then there is a problem. We have to make life better for everyone. This means that some people have to change their comfort levels, and adapt.

When you get too comfortable, and set in ways of being boring, first check and make sure you are not causing someone else harm. Because what one person considers heaven could be someone else’s hell.

New Balance

There has to be balance in life. Variety is the spice of life. It helps when you have some variety in your day to day living. You know, eat the same sandwich for too many years and it doesn’t taste as good anymore.

It’s important to break the habits that cause boredom in the first place, otherwise you are just living like a zombie. And that isn’t any fun. You have to get out of your routine.

Life is. Things are. Deal with it.

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Wake up!

The time has come. We are twenty years into this century, it’s time to wake up. Life has to get better for everyone. At the turn of the 20th century, life was very different. In a hundred years we have come a long ways.

However, we can not leave the world the way it is, and expect anyone to be happy. Therefore it is time to change. This new year, ask yourself if you are happy? What would make everyone happy?

Do you know what makes real happiness? Because it seems society has long lost its way, and the world has an identity crisis at the moment. The world doesn’t know who it wants to be. Therefor we have to understand the problem.

There are many ideas. There are many people with answers. One of the problems is getting others to agree. Because it seems like everyone is too busy to notice. Why? It’s difficult for everyone to get on the same page. This results in the common denominator and it isn’t working out.

Rise from Slumber

Life is. Things are. We want life better for everyone. Those with no understanding lack the ability to see from a different perspective. Really seeing from a different perspective helps us to see beyond our limits. Everyone should not be limited by those with no understanding. That isn’t healthy.

Therefore we need to see past our current situation, and see further into the future. We need to have some real vision for what we want.

We should all be working together to make life better. This old world may never change, however we wish it would. We need to understand. Therefore it’s time to start thinking. A lot of the attitudes and feelings in life today are carried over from previous decades and generations. Because it is time we get in the present, get current, and adjust our attitudes to the current situations.

The attitudes from fifty years ago will not help us solve the problems we have today. Because some of the skills to deal with problems have changed. The real skills have been forgotten. We do however see many with short tempers and short attention spans. Thus if we work to change our behavior, and change our attitudes, there is hope for everyone.

It’s time we get back to having patience, and some love. Therefore really having some unconditional love helps a lot. This will result in people being kinder, and we all need more kindness in life.

A New Understanding

This world’s identity crisis has reached epic proportions. It seems like there is something that needs done to make life better for everyone. Because we can not fail to make it better. Something has to change for the better. Because a lot of people have been unhappy for a long time, it’s time to wake up, and realize life can be better. Do what you can for others. Be the hand of a stranger to help those around you.

Because older generations need to relinquish their power, let younger generations take the lead. When the older generations serve as advisors to the younger people coming up the line. As a result, we will have the desired changes take place. Therefore it’s really time for old ways to change. Yes, change is difficult, and scary sometimes.

In addition, the worlds identity crisis isn’t going to fix itself. The younger generations can fix a lot of the problems. However, please don’t abandon us, just put your ego aside for a while and let the work be done.

Week 1 Journaling

Keep a journal. It’s really simple. Everyday write down either with pen and paper or by typing it, the important thing is to journal for ten minutes every day. It’s best if you can write first thing in the morning just after waking up during your first cup of coffee.

Keep a journal for a few years and always review them every few months.

Week 2 Bad TV Habits

Stop watching TV. This one is a bit tricky. Really though if you want to be happy, you have to start living. Real people get their emotional stimulation from direct interaction with other real live people. Cats get their pixelated decaf from watch the tv.

For the next year, unplug your tv set, and spend the time you would be watching tv to do something more interesting. Like learning.

Week 3 Meditate

Ideally you should spend at least an hour meditating every day. This is quiet time that you spend in contemplation. If you’re too busy to meditate for an hour each day, then spend two hours, because you need the practice.

This will sharpen your mind. This will make you smarter. And better the rest of your life. It’s worthy of doing, and will help you in your daily life.

Week 4 Practice Compassion

If you practice compassion in your daily life, with all that you go about doing, when sudden problems arise, like someone cutting you off on the freeway, you have already prepared to handle the situation. Danger lies when something catches you off guard and throws you for a loop. Be prepared and practice compassion ahead of time, that way you don’t have any surprises.

Week 5 Listen to Music

Listening to music stimulates your mind for better creativity, and dealing with life. Ideally you should be listening to music as much as possible. Make a ten hour play list, and listen to it for a year everyday on repeat.

Notice how you feel? Also you should be listening to music when you are sleeping at night. Try some classical music. It will keep you going.

Week 6 Food and Stuff

Watch what you eat. The better food you eat the better you feel. Everyone should have access to good wholesome food that doesn’t make you feel like crap. Speaking of which, when you eat, set a timer, and see how long after you finish eating before you have to use the bathroom. If after two minutes you crap your pants the food likely isn’t that good.

Week 7 Coffee

Get enough coffee. After drinking coffee for a while, notice how you feel. Drink as much as one half gallon of coffee a day. If you’re doing everything else right, this shouldn’t bother you.

Just don’t brew your coffee so weak that it looks like tea.

Week 8 PEMI

Record your Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Intellectual scores a few times everyday to track your progress. The goal is to be Sustainable and function at 100% of your capacity. If your not working at 100% then find out what is hurting your performance.

This app is available now. It’s called PEMI. Look for it.

Week 9 Creativity

Be creative. You should have some ways of expressing yourself that are positive ways to make life good. Take up a hobby doing something creative that makes you feel good. If you take up art, don’t be afraid of making bad art, just make art.

Enjoy the experience. Do something creative like writing, or making music, or drawing. Find your creative edge and work to master it. There is something for everyone. Find your groove.

Week 10 Tell Someone Else!

Blog your experience. Share your journey as you go through these processes with others. As you’re working on all ten of these items all at the same time, your growth will start to progress and you will find yourself being productive and competent.

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Just a quick update. my digital chaos is now random at ctopher.mydigitalchaos.blog. All the photos and text from the Did you know are loaded in random orders. If you refresh the page, it will look totally different. This has been a project that has been going on for a while now, and now it’s done.

While you are there, flip a coin, or check out how many seconds remain in today from any time zone. Who knows, you might learn something. Just be sure to come back to my blog so you can finish reading the whole thing. There is twelve pages of posts here. Surely there is something you will like, or find funny.

If nothing else, we could shock you for a few seconds. You know, if you don’t want to read the blog, then maybe we should give you a good jolt. Okay, maybe not. Maybe we will make you sit in the bathroom without a tv or mobile phone to keep you company and make you think quietly to yourself for ten minutes. That’s torture.

Come back for more.

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I have heard it said that five percent of the people think, ten percent think they think, and the other eighty five percent would rather die than think. This essay is for the ten percent that think they think. I want to feed your mind, you don’t have to think like me, you just have to think.

I have said that to know the truth you have to know what some of the lies are. That is because if you believe the lies you won’t see clearly the real truth they want to hide from you. I am not going to tell you what the lies are, you have to think and ponder those things yourself.

Whats Your Soul Say?

What i can do is ask some questions to guide you into asking yourself the tough questions that you need to understand. No one can do this for you, you have to be willing to go there in mind and spirit regardless of how it makes you feel. There is the main point, most people are afraid of thinking because they don’t want anything that makes them feel bad. Most people want sunshine and rainbows all the time, they don’t want to think because they are afraid of their own thoughts.

You can overcome these fears and still be happy. You can ask yourself the questions and think about the answers for a long time. The truth is once you begin to enjoy thinking, you might find it difficult to ever stop. In zen they talk about enlightenment, I don’t care what you want to call it; thinking is good for you. Most people reach a point that they stop growing, they stop learning and become comfortable with they way things are. I believe this is unhealthy. To truly rise above the status quo you have to learn, grow, and push your comfort zone everyday.

Practice Makes Perfect

Thinking requires breaking your comfort habit and exploring things that make you uncomfortable. Thinking for long periods with no direction will spin your wheels and not take you very far. The goal is to reach a destination in mind and spirit. To be content with life, to be happy and at peace with all beings.

If you find you are always angry or you get upset easily, if you are bitter in spirit; you have a long ways to go. Not everything is about you, not everything is about your fragile insecure ego. When you learn to think your ego learns to relax, you don’t have to always be right. This is where virtue comes in, a person of virtue can be patient enough to learn something new, no matter how long it takes to understand.

The answers won’t come in a second, an hour, a week, or even a year. The thought process takes a long time to become clear. To begin start asking questions about what you already know, challenge the answers. Make arguments for and against them until you are completely confused. Then look to see what the lies are until you have truths you understand. Only when we lose ourselves can we find our true self.

Be Patient

It’s important to be patient with your mind. If you are in a hurry you may as well stay in your small superficial world and never bother with these things. If you are in a rush to get somewhere you had better hope you have already gained the ability to think for yourself. Learning to think for yourself in your own way is the most rewarding gift you can give yourself. Freedom of thought, Freedom to control your thoughts, to be free from manipulation of the media, news, and propaganda will make you happier in the long run.

Most people live their lives on auto pilot, only thinking what they already think they know. Pride is the enemy. To navigate the world of pure reason you have to always be a beginner in spirit. In the experts mind there are few possibilities, in the beginners mind there are many. At first there will be confusion about why there are so many possibilities. Find the ones you like to think about and ponder them in depth.

Take out the distraction from your life and see what is left to think about. If you take the distractions away you have more time to think about what’s important. Learn some new skill or trade. See how long it takes you to master it. Then move to something else, and master that too.

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On two hundred acres, there is a lot of space. I remember the year, way back in ’28, we set aside two acres and planted tulips for a few years.

Every summer we would walk through the tulip fields and watch the birds come and go. There is a lot more to it than that. There were the years we took care of the land and prepped it for growing tulips.

One Sunday walking with my wife, we strolled through the tulip patches and talking of poetry and love. We fell into a trance and made ourselves just big enough to lay in the tulip at our feet.

It made lovely poetry. Laying very close to my wife, we spoke in beauty and love. Some two hours we made love, and lay within the tulip.

Then upon awaking, we were back to our right size. The lovely wife picked that tulip and carried it all the way home. She said, to me, I want a whole bouquet of tulips to lay in the window by the time winter arrives.

So we spent two months, picking tulips we had laid down in. Bringing them home and decorating the windows with their lovely flowers.

When winter arrived, every window in the place had bouquets of tulips in its window. It was beautiful. and we watched them dry all winter long as the heat from the furnace dried the flowers we had picked.

The lovely lady got a serious look in her eye, and she draws me close to her and holds me tight. “Promise me, next year we will plant poppies.” Taking her in my hands and kissing her whole, “Yes, poppies will look nice next year, you got it.”

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Remote Civilizations

In perfect weather that has been paradise for centuries, there is a group of beings that are envied through the galaxy over. These are the remnants of the buddhist monks from the twenty first century.

Being highly skilled in self control they have mastered the art of thinking, meditation, and the fruit of having done such is that they have become skilled in making of music, art, poetry, and are also exceptionally gifted writers.

After the war, most other civilizations had died off, or self destructed with a very high cost to their beings. Now in the late twenty-fifth century something has started to happen.

Peace has dwelled with me since the day that I was born. It’s been a kind world. Mostly because people have become kind in thought and deed and that the traces of hate and vile deeds has been wiped out for some three hundred and fifty years.

We have had the time to do our homework so to speak. We have found a happy balance of life, our work, and being compassionate. I’ve heard the world wasn’t always this way, but those records are sealed at the interior and no one is allowed to review them, mostly because we don’t want to go back to living and destroying ourself.

We are a happy people, our thoughts are good. Our actions are good. And in all that we do or plan there is good results that come from our actions.

The last hundred years have been a golden age of pure reason, for art, music, poetry, love, and social equality that the world may have never seen before.

We have advanced as a whole in technology and at our ability to add value to living each day. It seems everyone makes progress still despite having what many would consider a perfect system. Somehow it seems to always get better, every few years something changes and we look at wonder at how we didn’t know that already.

My parents named me after people that brought peace in the twenty-second centuries. My name is Luke Von Nance. Father a humble monk of the Shallot order is Vinderbock his parents thought he was a sour as vinegar. Mother thinks he is a sweetheart, the way he brings her fresh flowers every morning after having meditated for higher purpose. I think he finds his purpose in my mother.

Having a strong family in easy times is a cake walk. Some of the people that lived in the twenty-first century had broken families and bitter resentment and hated even among those that were living under the same roof.

Things are different now. Let us not speak of such things anymore, I fear that my thoughts of the past do not effect my soul for the better. The thoughts of my present situation have a better effect upon my psyche.

Today is nothing short of perfect. I hold no resentment towards any sentient being in this world. As my actions would show that there is perfect melody of peace within my being. And of truly awful things we leave those to the humans of the past.

Those who are dead and gone, not only in deed but memory. Their evil perished with them, and they are not remembered in this world any longer. They only speak of the hurt from the past, that living had become so painful that it’s a miracle that we survived as beings through the periods of time that we have.

Tomorrow will be the day my life changes from childhood to becoming a man. It will be the Thirteenth birthday for me, and though I am young; my skills in reasoning, meditation, self control, and peace have been instructed to me since birth.

This does not mean that I’m perfect, there is always something new to learn. However the Shallot monks of Sundogmingo know that the only learning and experience that I can gain now is what life choices I make in my life from these days forward.

Although no one is ever certain in life, there are things that I can look forward to with a satisfaction of knowing. Unless I should fall from the top of a roof while wild wolves run at the bottom of the castle; no harm will ever befall me.

I will grow from my present into a full eighty years or more before life departs upon my perfect life. I can lay my head down at night with the knowledge that when I awake I will have a full day of life ahead of me, and that it will be worthy of having lived it.

If there is one piece of knowledge that I have ever learned it is this; that love always sets you free. It does not enslave or seek to oppress others.

And as I close my eyes tonight to sleep peacefully I know that I will find happiness in my life, it has already began and tomorrow it will be confirmed with the SunDogMingo and Ma and Pa.

Chapter Two

Life unlike a dream has a certainty that can not be mistaken. The light coming in through the east window and the cool breeze that blows through the rooms west wing.

I wash my face and dress in my blue robe. Then with my head held high, but with a lowered gaze, walk into the west wing where Ma and Pa are waiting for me to appear.

“Doesn’t he look splendid today?” Ma asks Pa with flowers in her hand and a smile upon her face. “Yes, he does look dashingly radiant today.” Pa adds with glee in his step.

we eat a simple meal for breakfast, whole grains and fruit from a tree we have only one name for, which we call red white meat. The skin of the fruit is red, but once pealed it has a white fragrant meat to it. We eat them whole, and digest the seeds.

Today I will stand with the others in my group that are of the same age, with a ceremony to acknowledge my change from being a boy to becoming a man. It’s a simple day with simple pleasures to be found in living and the enjoyment of new experiences.

We walk across the plaza of Del-lima to be greeted by the others. I see a crowd of some fifty people gathered together. Together thirteen of us stand upon the stage and look out at the audience before us.

There is Nat Hanh on my left, Alexey II on my right, and his right are the twins Wayne and Bruce. On their right are Smyth, Wallingford, Grigori. On his right is Gregor, Mark, and Lucas. Griff the tallest and Benedict are furthest from me, even though we have been closest friends since I could ever remember.

It starts in a low chant, ‘O, ‘O, ‘Om. Gradually getting louder and louder and standing here now, this moment in my life seeing my friends with me, my loving neighbors in front of me, and the chanting I know that my life though pleasant will never be dull.

The chanting ended with the throwing of the balls at the fifth stanza of ‘O, ‘O ‘Om. Then we all chanted, “Om Mani Padme, Hum” for a cycle of forty-two seconds. Thereby completing a total of one minute and thirty seconds of what flashed before my eyes even while trying to slow time down, it went by all too quickly.

I had seen it while growing up, that these big men stood on stage and where celebrated by the whole gathering of SunDogMingo. Today looking at it from my eyes, I see the passing of a child and birth of a man.

Though I will live with Ma and Pa some six more years into the future. Which seems so certain for me that any other idea would be absurd.

Now we distribute through the town and in the morning we will all be assigned our stations of employment to SunDogMingo and what our responsibilities will be in the years to come.

In my peace, in the serenity of the moment; the facts did not register with me. It did not feel a lie, there was no untruth in my heart or mind. And of the village only truth was to be found.

A simple people with simplicity without needless absurdity. In the morning we would begin to work as under scans of the order in ways which are more than two thousand years old.

Chapter Three

Sitting in my final day of passing into manhood, while in meditation of the navel fruit, I discovered that perhaps something had changed within me. It is more than just a feeling, it’s a continuum of thoughts that have summed together in my life to form a new thought, and a new feeling within my breast.

The thought is atman. But the feeling is a fire that burns like a furnace with boiling water that the fire flies up and licks the water bowl clean. And then I knew the passing of my childhood a certainty and that my manhood was not only truly beginning, but evolving.

After ending my meditation, I walk to the family study, where Ma and Pa are. “There is a roaring fire within me, oh Pa will it consume me?” I exclaim upon walking into the room. Then Ma and Pa rush to my side and hold me tight, then Pa says, “We know son, we all have this fire within us. It’s who we are, it’s why we are here, and it gives us our strength, our might, and our peace.”

Then Ma takes me by the hand and sits down upon the sofa, and she says, “Now we know that you are our son, for the fire doesn’t lie, neither does the force by which we live.”

Pa still standing looks within my eyes and searching says, “You can learn to control it, to master it; to let it guide you, to protect you, to always guard you, and to be stronger than you will ever imagine.”

“It is Atman”, Ma says to me, “And now that we know, we can be sure that these are truths that we have been blessed and loved.” Pa walks through the study, doing something I hadn’t known of before, brings forth something I have never seen as if by unknown power.

Pa takes what seems to be a black box on five sides with a lightbox in the front of it, and using his finger touches the light several times then holds the box close to his ear.

“He’s ready. We can be certain. He will report tomorrow morning as we had planned. Only spare the report, and mark him for average.” Then he placed the black box back within a fold in his garment and looks at me. Then the question in my mind could not be spared, for I asked without thinking, “I’m not average am I really?”

“No son, not average. But many will have questions that need not be answered now. It’s best to keep this a private matter, we do not speak of this to the others.”

With just a look I could see that it was time for my next training and I bowed twice, once to each of my parents and excused myself to holy absolutions.

Twice my mind calculated the distance. The span of time that stretched from this morning until the moment of my awaking. It was not more than sixteen hours today. It had been one hundred and fifty-six months since I was born into this world, yet today felt like the first day of life for me.

It’s more than a feeling, it’s a living force that flows through every living, time, space, existence; if it was something you could physically see it would flow through all matter and anti-matter.

Chapter Four

Yellow leaves, blowing upon the walk; through the air and upon the branches of trees. Autumn, like a silent Om driven in. It’s not resistance to change, it is acceptance of more than star systems in flux. Ma says the tree’s are called Maidenhair tree; they have such pretty leaves in the fall.

I stretch my mind often. Sometimes slowing time and covering great distance while moving no further than in a sitting position that is motionless. The experience leaves one to ponder, there is more to life than superficial existence.

When thoughts are not painful, one is free to experience the joy of freedom of thought, and make gains from its value. Such is the life of the SunDogMingo. We simply extract the force through the fire and bring forth pure reason.

There were many things that people argued about in the late twenty first century. However pure reason can not be condemned. It what is accepted after the ash has been separated from the iron. We keep the iron, and use the ash to make soap.